Galapagos

The Charles Darwin Research Station is a biological research station. It conducts scientific research and environmental education for conservation. A team of over one hundred scientists, educators, volunteers, research students and support staff from all over the world come here. The Station also works in conjunction and cooperation with the Galapagos National Park Service, which is in charge of conservation and natural resource issues in the Galapagos.

We rode bikes to the Darwin Station from the Wreck Bay anchorage.

We paused on benches to study their stately form, sipping cold tea.

At the Darwin Station, we were allowed to wander around the fenced off areas inhabited by the ancient 500 pound tortoiese. Most of them were immobile, but many seemed in hot persuit of a breeding female. Their pace was indeed slower than that of a tiny snail.

The tortoises here have two types of shells: those of the highlands carry a dome-shaped shell, as they feed on low-lying shrubs; those of the low-lying islands, where vegetation is scarce, carry a saddle-shaped shell, as they tend to extend their necks higher up to reach the green shrubs.

Galapagos

After we made landfall in Wreck Bay at San Cristoba Island in the late afternoon, we dropped our hook in black volcanic sand behind the brightly colored Ecuadorean fishing fleet. As we are relishing our tasty grilled catch yellow-finned tuna in the main salon, a thunderous roar jolted us out of our reverie. We all collided into each other, while trying to clamber into the cockpit.

There, on the last step of our sugarscoop, squirmed a Mac-truck-sized bull sea lion. He must have weighed 500 lbs. In the harbor waters below him, a rival male challenged his prime real estate spot - the sugarscoop. It had become the 'throne' ofthe harbor. Their bellows continued into the night . At dawn, we were bleary-eyed and contankerous from sleep deprivation. What had appeared at first to be cute, had turned into a nightmare. The following night, we filled buckets with water and placed them dead center on the steps to block their enrtry. Next morning, we awakened to see two stretched out on each of the pontoons of our dinghy. At least they are quiet!

The town of Moreno was delightful: Inexpensive, fresh (!) produce in abundance; narrow streets, neo-colonial buildings. Excellent Ecuadorean cuisine for a mere $4-5 kept us strolling through quaint cafes on the back streets every night at sundown.

Isabela Island

Loberia

There are few inhabitants and ninety seven percent of the archipelago has been declared a national park. The volcanic landscape is striking. On horseback, we discovered the llush forested highlands. Thoug the beaches are some of the finest in the world, the sea lions had grabbed prime spots. We found the other-worldly looking iguanas sitting motionless on the black lava against the backdrop of a world-class surf site with Warren at the crest of one.

San Cristobal Island

The Galapagos were uninhabited when a Catholic priest was swept off course Central America in 1535. Pirates and buccaneers arrived in the 1700-1800's, using the archipelago as a refuge, thus beginning the demise of the giant tortoise by slaughtering them for their meat. Whaling ships followed, further contributing to the problem until the British naturalist, Charles Darwin, on the HMS Beagle arrived. He collected facts for his "Origin of the Species, bringing recognition to the unusual wildlife. Today, it is fiercely protected by the Ecuadorian government by strict immigration laws.

These marine iguanas flittered about the rocky escarpment along the beach. Though shy creatures, we could get close enough to admire their otherworldly attire!

HISTORY

Puerto Villamil

Sierra Negra's caldera is 6 miles x 5 miles and is the largest in the Galapagos and the second largest in the world. It sits in the southern part of Isabela between the volcanoes Alcedo and Cerro Azu.

We began our climb its crater at Puerto Villamil in a pick-up truck. Following the road to the small town of Santo Tomas, we found our horses waiting for us in the lush highlands.

Active Volcano Sierra Negra

Passage from Panama

It was 800 nautical miles to the Galapagos from Panama. We made it in a record 4.5 days undered reefed main and genoa. "Scud' soared along at a sped of 8-12 knots, due to favorable winds. The southeasterlies filled in nicely with a 15-25 knot stiff breeze. A 1-2 knot current pushed us along, increasing our joy to adject rapture.

We heard him, before we saw him -- a loud 'poosh'! If from the blow hole of a whale. Rapidly clambering up on deck, we peered into the waters to see a large sperm whale, 20' to port. It parted the waves with its elegant, shiny body, then dove just as rapidly as he had surfaced. In his wake flashed a wide, fluked tail. We peered for another hour, hoping he'd return. We were left with real joy in seeing a large marine species in its natural habitat. That's why we were here with our kids, today, together ... for this very thing.

Third Place Video Contest Winner:

We departed from the Archipiélago de las Perlas, located 30 miles off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama, on a sunlit day bright with promise. Little did I know what lay before us. On our second day at sea, a thousand stingrays surrounded our boat from all direction. They soared 5 feet out of the sapphire blue waters, erupted into magnificent somersaults, then crashed with a resounding crescendo into a slap on the choppy seas. It was a bizarre phenomenum. We couldn't figure out what they were fleeing from or feeding on.

Later, at the Darwin Institute in the Galalpagos, we were told the stingrays were on a massive mirgration to beter feeding grounds. Often, rays leap from the waters to evade sharks too. (View our video footage at the above link. Warren's flick captured an award from the Cruising World magazine staff.)

Raving Stingrays

Sperm Whale

Landfall

Blue-footed Booby Bird

Near the end of Charles Darwin's five-year voyage from 1831 to 1836 on board the English surveying ship the 'HMS Beagle', he explored the Galápagos Islands. There he discovered that each island supported its own form of tortoise, mockingbird, and finch. The various forms were closely related but differed in structure and eating habits. These observations led him toward his masterwork, On the Origin of Species (1859). Darwin edited his journals from the explorations and published them in 1839 as "The Voyage of the Beagle". His prose is rich with passion.

Our Nightly Companions

Town: Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Isabella is the largest island of the Galapagos Archipelago, stretching 4,640 square km – about half of the total land area of the Galápagos. The island is also one of the youngest islands (Fernandina is the other). Both are still being formed. Recently, lava spewed from Fernandina in April 2009, flowing towards the shoreline and into the caldera.

Untouched by aggressive tourism, the samll fishing village of Puerto Villamil surprised us with its sandy streets that led to beach volleyball and surf sites.

We caught so many yellow-finned tuna and Dorado that we had to pull in our trolling line: a large hook attached to 200 lb. monofilament, shock cord and a yo-yo.

It's the affable antics of the young fur seal pups that amuse us most. During our daily swims in the chilly Humboldt current (from Antarctica), one or two pups would approach us to gaze quizzically into our snorkel masks with adorable eyes wide open.

Sea Lion Harem

"HMS Beagle in the Galapagos"

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin Institute

Voyage of the Beagle

Known as "the Enchanted Isles", the Galapagos islands straddle the Equator, 550 mileswest of Ecuador. Here, we walked among reptiles and swam with sea lions. We glided by up close to nesting boobies in our dinghy, were licked by curious seal pups underwater and eye-balled by penguins.

La Lobería is home to a large sea lion colony and nursery. It is also inhabited with marine inguanas. We found them languishing in the warm sun, perfectly camouflaged against sizable boulders, their tongues intermittently darting out of their prehistoric faces and saltwater shooting from their nostrils.

The sandy bike trail ran alongside the beach, then into the mangroves along a wooden boardwalk, suspended across quiet lagoons inhabited by pink flamingos.

Warren Enjoying Big Waves Near the Anchorage

A major swell hit La Loberia during our stay, hitting the volcanic rocky reef with a legitimate 8-10 ft Hawaiian scale, though according to locals, a 4-7 ft is more common. Warren and Adam were stoked.

Peter and I hit the sandy trails at sunrise to follow the sandy path to Loberia.

Boobies nested closeby the anchorage Every morning, with long wings folded tight against their torpedo-shaped bodies, they dive bombed the thick schools of small fish, scurrying two to three metres below the surface.

To entice him to play, I picked up a large sun-bleached fish bone from the bottom and tossed it to them. A game of chase ensued with the winner intercepting and rolling the new toy down his snout and across his body, bubbles spinning across his white belly.

Cantering through verdant greenery for two hours was pleasant, after being exposed to the barren, moon landscape of the low lying areas. At the volcano summit, we studied a series of fumaroles inside small craters and walked across the hardened lava flows, resulting from an earlier eruption in 1980, when 300 penguins died.Little did we know how lucky we were: six months later (Oct 22, 2005), Sierra Negra erupted in the area known as Volcán Chico, on the northeastern rim, sending fresh lava flows towards uninhabited Elizabeth Bay. The loud explosion and vast column of sulfurous ash was seen as far as San Cristobal. No loss of life or endangered species.

Land Iguana

Marine Iguana

Sally Lightfoot Crab

Adam Studying Breeding Chart

Wreck Bay

History

Passage

San Cristobal Island

Voyage
of the
Beagle

Charles
Darwin
Institute

Isabela Island

Live
Volcano